X-Git-Url: https://git.sesse.net/?a=blobdiff_plain;f=audio.rst;h=58e3ed07a71df0f3d11c2dc144e8f5ac1abfe4c6;hb=d05957f384f380709e28fac4476002e6207ad1aa;hp=65fe9af432a20b130fd5ba81901eeebd87051720;hpb=d7d47cba9a794efe23d4ac53f108628ca221935f;p=nageru-docs diff --git a/audio.rst b/audio.rst index 65fe9af..58e3ed0 100644 --- a/audio.rst +++ b/audio.rst @@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ Simple mode **Simple** audio mode is the default, and was the only mode available up until Nageru 1.4.0. Despite its name, it contains a powerful audio processing chain; however, in many cases, you won't need to -understand or twiddle any of the knobs availale. +understand or twiddle any of the knobs available. Simple mode allows input from only a single source, and that source has to be one of the capture cards. (You choose which one by right-clicking @@ -117,6 +117,7 @@ are indications of common issues: A healthy stereo stream will usually have a correlation somewhere around 0.7–0.8, and this section is marked in green. +.. _audio-strip: The audio strip --------------- @@ -125,7 +126,7 @@ The audio strip The audio strip contains controls for the processing chain for the audio from start to end, left to right. Note that by default, everything is enabled; -if you have a premade audio mix that you are confident that you +if you have a pre-made audio mix that you are confident that you want 1:1 into the stream, you can start Nageru with the “--flat-audio” flag, that instead starts with everything disabled. @@ -168,7 +169,7 @@ the distinction won't matter, but for multichannel, the previous effects are separate per-bus and the remaining are applied after the mix. (More on this below.) The mastering section begins with a **limiter**, basically a compressor with very high ratio. -It's there as an emergency brake for really loud compressors +It's there as an emergency brake for really loud sounds that got through the other compressors—a classic example is a speaker suddenly coughing, or a very loud bass drum. This prevents both clipping and blowing out the speakers' ears. @@ -209,6 +210,7 @@ several buses. Each bus has a name (for instance, something like Nageru doesn't care what you write here, but the labels are useful for the operator. + Input mappings '''''''''''''' @@ -218,7 +220,8 @@ The input mapping dialog should be pretty much self-explanatory; you can use the + button to add a new bus, and the - button to remove the currently selected one (you select by clicking on it). The up and down buttons rearrange the order by moving the currently selected bus -up or down, if possible. +up or down, if possible. Note that you can create a mono bus by +assigning the same input channel to the left and right inputs. Because mappings can be tedious to setup, you wouldn't want to set up a complicated one every time you started Nageru. Therefore, mappings @@ -267,10 +270,189 @@ keys on the keyboard) allow you to select between two views: .. image:: images/audio-bus-controls.png -There's one set each of these controls for every bus. - -(TODO: write more) - - -MIDI control ------------- +There's one set each of these controls for every bus. The most +important parts of the mix are given the most screen estate, +so even though the way through the signal chain is left-to-right +top-to-bottom, we'll go over it in the opposite direction. + +By far the most important part is the audio level, so the **fader** naturally is +very prominent. (Note that the scale is nonlinear; you want more resolution +in the most important area.) Changing a fader with the mouse or keyboard is +possible, and probably most people will be doing that, but Nageru also +supports USB faders (see :ref:`midi-control`). There's a mute button +if you just want to silence a bus temporarily; it has exactly the same +effect as pulling the fader all the way down, ie., it will make the bus +go all silent. + +Then there's the **peak meter** to the left of that. For each bus, unlike +for the meters used for mastering (see :ref:`audio-meters`), +you don't want to know loudness; you want to know recording levels, +so this is a peak meter, *not* a loudness meter. (There's some holdoff +so you can see the actual peaks over a short period.) In particular, +you don't want the bus to send clipped data to the master +(which would happen if you set it too high); Nageru can handle +this situation pretty well (unlike most digital mixers, it mixes in +full 32-bit floating-point so there's no internal clipping, +and the limiter described in :ref:`audio-strip` will usually save you) +but it's still not a good place to be in, so if you peak, +the **historical peak label** under the meter will go red if it happens. +If you want to reset it, click on it using the mouse. + +The peak meter doubles as an input peak check during +setup; if you turn off all the effects and set the fader to neutral, you can +see if the input hits peak or not, and then adjust it down. Left and right +channel are shown separately, so you can see if they are approximately +the same level or even completely mono. + +The **compressor** is well-known from the simple audio mode, but in this view, +it also has a **reduction meter**, so that you can see whether it kicks in or not. +(This is also nonlinear, and each step is marked with number of decibels +the compressor had to reduce the signal.) Most casual users +would want to just leave the gain staging and compressor settings alone, but +a skilled audio engineer will know how to adjust these to each speaker's +antics—some speak at a pretty even volume and thus can get a bit of +headroom, while some are much more variable and need tighter settings. + +Finally (or, well, first), there's the EQ section. The **lo-cut** is again +well-known from the simple audio mode (the filter is separate for each +bus, the cutoff **frequency** is the same across all buses), +but there's now also a simple **three-band EQ** per bus. Simply ask the speaker +to talk normally for a bit, and tweak the controls until it sounds good. +People have different voices and different ways of holding the microphone, +and if you have a reasonable ear, you can use the EQ to your advantage to +make them sound a little more even on the stream. Either that, or just +put it in neutral, and the entire EQ code will be bypassed. + +.. _midi-control: + +MIDI controllers +---------------- + +If you are doing audio work beyond just setting up a mix and letting it +stay there, dragging controls with the mouse can feel limiting. There's +a wide range of controllers out there that have physical faders and knobs +you can twiddle for a much more tactical feel; all the way up from about +$50 to more than $5000. (For reference, Nageru has been tested with the +`Akai MIDImix `_ and the +`Korg nanoKONTROL2 `_, +and both work fine, although the nanoKONTROL2 needs some one-time Korg-specific +SysEx commands before the lights and buttons will work with Nageru.) +Nageru supports these in multichannel mode only. + +For historical reasons, these speak the MIDI protocol as if they +were instruments, and thus, Nageru refers to them as **MIDI controllers**. +However, you won't really notice; they come with USB plugs to transport +the MIDI data, so you just plug them in and have Nageru automatically +talk to them. (For simplicity, Nageru will assume *any* MIDI device +connected to your machine is such a controller.) + +Since different controllers have different numbers of faders, knobs, +buttons and lights, you will need to make a mapping. However, just like +with the audio input mapping, this can be done once and then saved +to disk for later loading. (You can load a given mapping on startup +using the “--midi-mapping” flag.) The dialog, loaded with the included +preset for the Akai MIDImix, looks like this: + +.. image:: images/midi-controller-setup.png + +There are three types of controls, which correspond to different types +of MIDI events: + + * **Controllers** map directly to MIDI controllers (the value in the + dialog is the controller number), which are continuous + values that can take on values from 0 to 127. (Unfortunately, MIDI + was made in the 80s, where 7-bit precision was seen as enough.) + They are typically used for faders and knobs. + + * **Buttons** are one-shot events that map to MIDI note-on events, + and the value in the dialog is the MIDI note number (also from + 0 to 127). They are similar to mouse buttons in that they don't + have an on or off state (the MIDI note-off events are ignored). + A typical example would be a mute button that can be pressed to + either mute or unmute a channel. + + * **Lights** are *output* events where Nageru can send feedback + to the controller (and by extension, the user), represented by + MIDI note-on and note-off events (to turn the light on or off). + A typical example would be a mute light, that is on when a + channel is muted. + +In addition, each event can be *per-bus* or *global*. It can be a bit +confusing that even the global events can be set once per-bus, +but this is merely a convenience, allowing you to bind multiple +physical controls to the same global controller; for global controllers, +the bus number(s) you use for your mapping do not matter. + +The combination of controller type and per-bus/global constitutes +a **mapping group**, clearly marked and collapsible in the UI. + + +Creating and updating mappings +'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' + +Unless you have a reference sheet for your MIDI controller, specifying which +controller and number numbers the different physical knobs and faders +emit, inputting these numbers by hand can be a frustrating procedure. +(Actually, even with a reference sheet, it probably is.) Thus, the preferred +way is by autosensing; simply select the given mapping with the mouse +and use the control you want to bind it to, and Nageru automatically +fills it in. + +Also, most devices support many channels, with very similar structure +in their controller and/or note numbers. Once you've filled out one +and then started filling out another one, Nageru can guess for you; +if it thinks it can make a reasonable guess (ie., find a consistent +offset from its left or right neighbor), the “Guess bus” and/or +“Guess group” buttons will be clickable. This can save considerable +amounts of time, although it is advisable to check Nageru's guess for +at least the first guessed channel. In particular, some controllers +do not have a consistent offset between channels on all the controllers +(making “Guess bus” give the wrong answer), just on the controller groups, +so there, you must limit yourself to guessing only a single controller +group (using “Guess group”). + +Lights currently cannot be learned, so some trial and error is needed. +(However, if there are buttons associated with the light, a good place +to start is using the same note number.) However, just like the input +controllers, they can be guessed once you have all the mapping you want +for a neighboring bus and partial information about the current one. + + +Controller banks, and UI visibility +''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' + +Many MIDI controllers do not have enough faders and knobs for every +Nageru function you might want to control; some even contain only +one fader or one knob. Thus, Nageru supports assigning a physical +control to multiple functions, through **controller banks**. +If a mapping is assigned to a controller bank, it is only active +when that bank is active. The act of switching banks is in itself +an action that can be initiated from the MIDI controller; in fact, +that is currently the only way to switch them. + +A typical example would be having a knob that in bank 1 is assigned +to gain, and in bank 2 to cutoff (which happens to be a global control, +as described in the previous section). This way, one can switch between +the two banks and have both functions accessible from the MIDI controller. +Similarly, buttons can be reused by assigning them to multiple banks. + +Note that when switching banks, the associated controller(s) is +*not* immediately updated; this happens only when you move the control. +Otherwise, a bank switch would cause a host of unwanted changes, +as it is unlikely that you would want the control in the exact +same position for the two controllers. (There is a similar problem +when starting up Nageru for the first time, where the controllers +are not necessarily in the place matching Nageru's startup settings.) +Some more expensive controllers support *motorized faders*, where +the host can simply tell the control to move to the right place +and thus solve the problem, but Nageru does not currently support them. + +.. image:: images/highlight.png + +To help you know which bank is active (or even that you have a MIDI +controller connected at all), the currently mapped controller have +a green **activity highlight**. When you switch banks, the highlight +also updates—a controller is only highlighted if its mapping is +active in the currently selected bank. This way, it is easy to see +which controllers are currently controllable by MIDI, and which ones +that are not.